


When in Theros

by Winterling42



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Established Relationship, F/M, Kissing, M/M, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Short One Shot, Some Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-03 01:11:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11521404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winterling42/pseuds/Winterling42
Summary: The Gatewatch tries tracks down Ashiok in Akros. There are various distractions.





	1. Chapter 1

Chandra hated it here. It floated on the surface of all her thoughts; her dislike of the angular walls, the armored citizens, the way everyone looked like a soldier even if they weren’t. Jace kept a light touch on the minds of the people around them, looking for hints of the nightmare-weaver. They’d split up; Gideon and Nissa had gone to the palace while she and Jace got a head start on searching the city – they called it a polis here, it meant something a little different than ‘city.’

Of course, the city Jace was most used to never ended; Ravnica ebbed and flowed but there was always civilization in some shape or another. It was different on Theros; the wild pressed heavily in on the city, and the people of Akros fought back with military precision. Everyone here carried themselves like a soldier because, at one point or another, they had been.

“Those guards are looking at us,” Chandra muttered, jostling his arm like Jace hadn’t already noticed.

“We stand out. Don’t worry, they’re not coming…” Oh. They _were_ coming this way. “Uh, down here.” Jace ducked into an alley empty of people, and Chandra him followed without hesitation…into a dead end.

“Now what?” Chandra hissed. Heat was glowing around her in a nimbus, and she automatically turned back towards the entrance to fight.

“Hold _on_ Chandra,” Jace put a hand on her arm, grateful she hadn’t burst into flames. Yet. “Let me—“

“Ok I’ve got a plan!” Chandra said, suddenly cheerful. And then she kissed him. All plans of wiping the guards’ minds vanished under the sudden weight of Chandra pressing him up against the stone. One part of his brain was full of _WHAT_? The rest of him was fully occupied with how Chandra’s eyes slid shut as panic faded, how her hand at the back of his neck was warm but did not burn, how she sighed against his lips and curled herself around him.

And, at the edges of his awareness, the polis guards peered into the alley, coughed and jabbed each other in the ribs, and walked away. “Mind magic would have been a lot simpler.” He smiled when he said it, and Chandra laughed with her cheek pressed to his. It was a curious intimacy, different than the kiss. Jace felt his heart flip over a few times.

“Yeah,” she said, stepping away to check the coast was clear. “But it would have been a lot less fun.”

Jace tried to hide his blush in a wry smile, tugging at his unruly hair as Chandra led the way back onto the street.


	2. Chapter 2

Days later, Jace and Gideon were waiting outside one of the large house yards. Inside, a famous philosopher visiting from Meletis was (hopefully) in danger of having her dreams stolen. Ashiok was definitely in Akros; they had confirmed with Cynamere that several of her best strategists and warriors had been put into magical sleep that none of her priests could cure. What Ashiok _wanted_ from the people of Theros was still under heated debate within the Gatewatch, but they didn’t need to know the night-mare weaver’s plan. Ashiok’s meddling with the fabric of Nyx was spreading through the Blind Eternities, leaking Theros’ divine essence across nearby planes. If they were left alone, it wasn’t just Theros that was at risk, but Belenor and Iquatana and Valla as well.

So Jace and Gideon were on watch while Chandra and Nissa slept in a nearby guest house. It would have been fine if this hadn’t been the first time Jace had been alone with Gideon since Chandra’d kissed him. And even _that_ would have been fine if Gideon and Chandra hadn’t been so obviously, painfully _romantic_ back on Ravnica. It may be a recent development, but the two of them weren’t trying to hide how they leaned on each other, how they sometimes kissed hello or good-bye. How they had stopped taking separate rooms in the expansive house Jace kept as Guildpact.

“Um, Gideon?” the best thing to to was talk about it. Obviously. Keeping secrets about relationships was just about the worst possible thing to do.

“Hmm?” Gideon turned to look at him just a little, keeping one eye on the lit windows of the house.

Jace blew out a quick breath. “You, uh, you know how Chandra and I were on patrol a few days ago?”

Gideon laughed, a low, soft sound that made Jace’s stomach clench up for no reason. “When she decided it was a better plan to kiss you than to set some guards on fire? I can’t say it was a bad plan, the way she phrased it.”

Jace stared at him, his carefully phrased apology completely forgotten. “What?” he managed, after a moment.

“You didn’t think she’d tell me?” Gideon sounded almost as surprised as Jace felt. “I thought you knew she had.”

“I—well, I didn’t—“

“Jace.” Gideon had to clear his throat, and left off his watch to face Jace squarely. It was hard to tell, in the dark, but the warrior _might_ have been blushing. “I should have said something. Look, I can’t tell Chandra who to kiss, anymore than she can tell me. Honestly, between getting herself kicked out of the polis and kissing someone who we both care about anyway, I think she made the right choice.”

“Both…?” Jace felt as if someone had set the solid ground adrift. Something about tonight was definitely not going the way he had planned. Maybe not in a bad way.

Gideon smiled a small, fond smile, and put a hand on Jace’s shoulder. “It’s up to you, of course. But you’d be more than welcome with us, Jace. I promise.” He sealed the promise with a gentle kiss, just a quiet press of his lips against Jace’s. And then he went back to watching the philosopher’s house as if everything was fine. As if the world wasn’t swirling around them into new patterns, ones that Jace couldn’t predict. Ones that he hadn’t even known he wanted until they were laid out before him as wide as the Third District lake.

 

**Author's Note:**

> guys. you guys. I have been writing this story for at LEAST 6 months. possibly longer. take pity on me and how short it turned out to be. :(


End file.
